Quite unsure about where to inject my savings now: Into the rump of a Nikon D200 (which I was 99% sure on) or, (after familiarizing myself with one recently) perhaps a Canon EOS 30D. ....or... .Totally disregard the 30D and wait until the 40D is released, then pit the latter against the D200! ???

I just want the best DSLR for semi-pro wildlife/landscape photography, IE: a rugged, well built camera that will perform well in the field(s) on a day to day basis, giving me quality results.
Of course, the other issue is lenses. It seems to me that many wildlife photographers choose Canon. Is there any particular reason for this?

The thing to think about are lenses. Which lenses do you want and which models can you afford. I think many pro wildlife - and sports - photographers go for Canon because of the lenses available - the 600mm f4 for example ain't cheap, but it seems to be a standard piece of kit for pros whether you're shooting sports or birds!

It also seems that while Nikon has the edge for metering, Canon is superior for AF, again supporting the number of large white-barrelled lenses you see carried by pros at every major sporting event.

Pro Wildlife photographers also seem to like full-frame, again pointing to Canon and in particular the mighty 1Ds Mark II.

So I'd think about the lenses first and let them make your choice between Canon and Nikon.

I have been looking at a lot of lens results -and the overwhelming number of lenses used are Canons.
And of course, the big daddy 1Ds Mark II seems to be the body of choice for many of the pros out there, but I wouldn't claim to be anywhere near proficient enough to buy into one of those, yet.

I'm sure I can get pleasing results with less. And after having a deep look at the 30D I have begun to lean towards canon.

So I will keep on thinking, and wait until the 40D is released I guess.
Though, would a leap of 2 mega pixels really change much?

Thanks for your comments Gordon, and for responding to such a dirge of dithering.

Well if you're talking about the 40D, it's just speculation right now. But I would guess it would be a 10mpixel sensor with anti-dust like the 400D, but with the tougher body and 5fps of the 30D. To support 5fps though it would need a new sensor, so it'll be interesting to see if Canon drops to 3fps to use the 400D's sensor, or does what it's doen in the past and develop a new one with a slightly different resolution.

Again, it's all speculation, but if the 30D does what you want today and you can't wait, then go ahead!

I reckon the 30D's successor would be part of Canon's Autumn 2007 launch though, which is normally around the August / September timeframe. Again, pure speculation though.